Raël

Raël (born Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon, 30 September 1946), sometimes referred to as Maitreya Raël or simply Rael, is a French journalist and religious leader who founded and leads the Raëlian Movement, an international UFO religion. Before becoming a religious leader, Raël, then known as Claude Vorilhon, worked as a sports-car journalist and test driver for his car-racing magazine, Autopop. He reported an extraterrestrial encounter in December 1973 and subsequently formed the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël. He later published several books, which detail the encounter with a being called Yahweh in 1973. He traveled the world to promote his books for over 30 years.